Today's instalment of the CLASS Report is vodka. These are the bestselling brands in the UK's Best Bars
Things are looking up for vodka. Where once bartenders rolled their eyes inside out at its sheer existence, there’s been a slow thawing of relations.
A more nuanced appreciation has emerged – maybe vodka’s more understated profile does have a place among the craft bartender’s arsenal. In truth it always has – out there among the day walkers, vodka has always shifted product.
According to our survey, it’s the third bestselling spirit in the UK’s best bars. All that means that vodka remains a battlefield for the multinational producers. Each of these behemoths – Bacardi, Pernod Ricard, MoëtHennessy, Diageo et al – duke it out for the rights to the speed rail and cocktail menu listings.
Both or wherever the volume is bigger. In our snapshot of the category, Bacardi’s Grey Goose and Absolut (including Elyx) were very closely matched. Almost half of the bars we polled had Grey Goose among their top-three vodkas and 13% said it was their most sold.
That was actually less than second-place Absolut, which was the bestseller in 20% of bars, but a lot less likely to be a second or third choice – 12%. This table, which is ordered by data weighted to represent volume, saw the two come out all square, but we gave the nod to Grey Goose because of its wider presence.
It seems that if Absolut isn’t at the top table, it’s less bothered about collecting up the crumbs. Meanwhile, Belvedere was another common sight, but not nearly as competitive on cocktail listings and house vodka bestseller (6% of our sample). With its spicier, rye profile, it’s clearly seen as a point of difference. More than a third of bars we polled said it was among their three most-sold vodkas.
The Nolet Distillery/Diageo-owned Ketel One is in fourth. Behind Grey Goose and Absolut, it’s the third most likely to be the first-choice vodka in a bar, but it’s not an all-rounder. Only 8% of bars that didn’t have it as house said it was among the supporting cast.
The inexpensive Finlandia has long had a following in the UK, before even marketers drew the boundaries of what premium means, and fresh from leaving Brown-Forman to join Coca-Cola HBC – it still takes its share of house pours (9% in our sample).
Suntory’s Haku (the bestseller in 7%) seems also to be attracted to the rail but has presence more widely (15% said it was a top-three vodka), while Stoli is also in the conversation – 6% said it was their go-to. What does all that mean? Apart from a lot of listing fees, it also seems plausible that wheat vodkas – perhaps thanks to their lighter, rounder style – make good volume options.
Bartenders told us they quite often have one brand for spirit-mixer serves, while certain cocktails require something more distinctive – a Vodka Martini for example. And if that’s the major vodkas covered off, let’s reserve a little love for Boatyard in eighth.
Bars certainly have. Without the muscle to compete on listing fees in this category, cocktail listing are won on liquid prowess alone. And so, when we ask bartenders what vodka brands really excite them – their actual favourites, not just those they sell most of – the answer more than any other comes back as Boatyard.
In fact, more than a quarter named the brand. Bartenders polled also gave a strong shout out to William Grant & Sons’ sustainably-produced Discarded Grape Skin vodka and the long-admired Polish craft vodka Konik’s Tail.